EDA in the clouds? Check it out at DVCon…
– never mind. If you’re old as the hills like me, you might recognize that I’m channeling Emily Litella (Gilda Radnor of SNL fame). But really what is cloud computing, and what does it mean to EDA, or DFT, since this is a design-for-test blog?
Well, many of you engineers are familiar with working in a grid environment, utilizing a cluster of computers with some load sharing facilities – being able to draw from the power of the group to get your work done. Well, in general, cloud computing is an extension of that concept, with the cluster moved from the data closet to the broader internet. Being able to use the computing power wherever it is available on the planet.
Harry Gries, the ASIC Guy, has been promoting a form of this for EDA for some time. He’s written several posts on the subject on his blog in the last year. Harry’s interested in a specific application of cloud computing: Software as a Service (SaaS), and the specific software? EDA software. In the new EDA order, EDA customers, from the smallest to the largest, move their computing to the cloud, and EDA companies offer their tools using a flexible pricing structure, maybe pay-per-use (as a service) within that cloud.
I’m not going to far out on a limb in saying that probably every one of you out there knows a few engineers that have recently lost their jobs – or God forbid, you’ve lost yours. How many engineers are out there with design chops, that given a tool could make a young startup happy, if only temporarily? If you’re an EDA vendor, why not arm them with your tool (and training)? If you’re a DFT engineer looking for your next gig, wouldn’t it be nice to know that you can hit the ground running with access to the ATPG tool you know best? Today, no such business model exists in the industry.
For my part, I believe this to be the first time in EDA history that the need for more universal access to tools and the technology to deliver it have been well met. I think Harry believes this too, and has stuck his neck out far enough to land the moderating job for a panel discussion (OK, roundtable) at DVCon of his own creation, Wednesday Feb. 25th. If you’re in town, and interested in the subject…
…your attendance is requested.
Stumble It!
Hi John,
For anyone who is interested in keeping their design chops exercised, and that design involves register address maps, check out http://SpectaReg.com a SaaS tool for register code generation. We have a promotion where qualified users can get 6mo of free use for production…
Looking forward to connecting with everyone at the DVCon SaaS roundtable.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy – checked out your website – and anyone that has maintained registers and register interfaces should be very interested in your products!
Thanks for reading DFT Digest – I’ll put a link to your blog on my page – maybe you can reurn the favor on Register Bits!
Cheers,
JMF
Hi John,
Thanks, your blog is interesting and i would be happy to link to it.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Done!
JMF